Tabloid Tales of the Past

Aug. 2, 2002

VERONA — A major expansion that could increase jobs at the county’s largest employer by as much as one-third in two years has been announced by the Oneida Indian Nation. Planned for Turning Stone Casino Resort are a 20-story, 300-room hotel, a 100-suite golf hotel, an event center, a spa, a human resources training center and epanded parking, as well as 1,000 more jobs.

SYRACUSE (AP) — New York State Fair officials have doubled the number of parking spaces reserved for handicapped motorists and will employ a new parking plan to cut down on traffic congestion.

Aug. 2, 1992

BOONVILLE — The 10th Boonville-Oneida County Fair wrapped up Sunday, posting attendance figures short of what organizers were aiming for. Attending the event this year were 45,531 people. Officials had hoped for 50,000.

Aug. 2, 1982

As County Executive Sherwood L. Boehlert lobbies for legislative support for his Utica Auditorium takeover plan, sources in county government made public details that show an ambitious county-financed renovation program could cost anywhere between $330,000 and $2 million.

Aug. 2, 1972

Dr. Welthy Honsinger Fisher, 92, world famous educator, is currently visiting her native Rome and talking of a return to China, where she once lived.

Aug. 2, 1962

A new diorama, depicting the scene of the first Stars and Stripes at Fort Stanwix on Aug. 3, 1777 — is being constructed at Fort Stanwix Museum.

Aug. 2, 1952

Five city blocks will be surfaced with an asphalt plant mix, Mayor Townsend said. They are the 200 and 300 blocks of Sest Liberty Street, 100 and 200 blocks of West Court Street, and the 100 block of Turin Street.

Today is Thursday, Aug. 2, the 215th day of 2012. There are 151 days left in the year.

Today in History

On Aug. 2, 1862, the Ambulance Corps for the Army of the Potomac was created at the order of Maj. Gen. George McClellan during the Civil War.

On this date:

In 216 B.C., during the Second Punic War, Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal defeated the Roman army in the Battle of Cannae.

In 1776, members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

In 1876, frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, by Jack McCall, who was later hanged.

In 1909, the original Lincoln "wheat" penny first went into circulation, replacing the "Indian Head" cent.

In 1922, Alexander Graham Bell, generally regarded as the inventor of the telephone, died in Nova Scotia, Canada, at age 75.

In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, died in San Francisco; Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president.

In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitler’s complete takeover.

In 1943, during World War II, Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands.

In 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox suffered light damage from North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.

In 1974, former White House counsel John W. Dean III was sentenced to one to four years in prison for obstruction of justice in the Watergate coverup. (Dean ended up serving four months.)

In 1985, 135 people were killed when a Delta Air Lines jetliner crashed while attempting to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. (The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.)

Ten years ago

A federal judge ruled the U.S. government had to reveal the names of people detained in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (an appeals court later sided with federal authorities). Pope John Paul II returned to Rome after ending an 11-day pilgrimage to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico.

Five years ago

Mattel apologized to customers as it recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead. A Marine Corps squad leader was convicted at Camp Pendleton, Calif., of murdering an Iraqi man during a frustrated search for an insurgent. (Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III was sentenced to 15 years in prison; he spent four years behind bars before his conviction was overturned on grounds he hadn’t received a fair trial.)